Do You Know Exactly What To Do But For Some Reason You Can't Do It?

Self-sabotage is a big problem that lots of people deal with. It's very strange feeling to know exactly what to do, but your own beliefs and fears get in the way of your ability to take action.
Well, before you can fix this problem, you need to know why it happens:

1. More pain associated with taking action than not taking action - Most people procrastinate because the actions they need to take are not necessarily fun. The actions needed to achieve the results they want are sometimes painful.

Remember when you had a school project and you would wait until the last second to start working on it? The reason you waited till the last second was because working on that project was boring, difficult, tedious, and simply not fun.

So, one of the reasons we self-sabotage ourselves is because we are attempting to avoid pain by doing so.

2. Fear of the unknown - Most people are afraid of success. They are afraid of what success may bring. More responsibility. More expenses. More problems.

Most people are content with where they are in life. Life doesn't really suck, it's just not that great, so they are not motivated enough to get outside of their comfort zone. In order to be successful, you need to embrace change. You need to be okay with jumping into the unknown.

3. Identity clash - When you make the effort to achieve a new goal, your current identity will be challenged. The only way to achieve something you've never done before is to take actions you've never taken before and get out of your comfort zone.

In most cases, you will have to destroy your old identity and take up a new one which can be very painful. For example, if you believe yourself to be a person who just goes with the flow of life, you will have a hard time achieving goals that require strict scheduling and time management.
Sometimes we don't realize that we have an identity that is in direct conflict with the goal we are trying to achieve. It's tough to do, but most of the time you will have to make changes to your identity to get what you want in life.

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How To Overcome Self-Sabotaging Behavior
==================================Step 1: Embrace Discomfort And Do What You Need To Do Anyway

The truth is that getting outside of your comfort zone is uncomfortable, but it is only temporary. When you take new actions on a consistent basis, eventually those actions will become a part of your comfort zone.

However, in the beginning, getting outside your comfort zone is going to suck. It feels uncomfortable, it feels awkward, and it just feels wrong. But, you need to embrace the discomfort and do it anyway.

There is a sense of power and freedom that will come to you when you accept discomfort and pain while taking action anyway.

You'll develop an inner confidence that nobody can take away from you. This confidence will propel you to move forward and take on bigger challenges with a smile on face, because you know you can handle anything life throws at you.

Step 2: Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths

We all have weaknesses that are holding us back from success, but sometimes you can transform those weaknesses into strengths by giving them different meanings.

For example, I love to sleep. If I don't get my 8 hours of sleep I pretty much go through the day like a zombie. So, instead of looking at this as a weakness I decided to look at it as a strength. I make sure to get my 8 hours of sleep, but when I wake-up I get straight to work and put all that energy into the actions that will get me to success the fastest.

I use all that energy to tackle the actions that I'm afraid to do. The actions that require the most energy. I get all the hard stuff out the way early in the day, so by the end of the day I can go to sleep and get my 8 hours of peaceful sleep knowing that I handled my business.

I chose to look at this weakness as a strength. Getting 8 hours of sleep everyday gives me less time to work on my business, but it doesn't really matter because instead of wasting my time doing a bunch of random stuff, I simply focus on the tasks that have the biggest impact in my business.

So, I don't need to work a ton of hours, because I just focus on doing a few things that have a huge impact in my business growth, and this allows me to get my 8 hours of sleep every night without feeling like I'm not spending enough time on my business.

Anything that you see as a weakness can be transformed into a strength, but you must look at it differently.

Step 3: Do What You Love To Do
Too many people are doing things that they hate. A lot of the stuff that people do, doesn't need to be done. You can eliminate it completely from your life or you can hire someone to do it for you or automate it.

I don't have as much problems with self-sabotage as I used to because I only do the things I want to do.

I remember when I was pursuing a professional basketball career, I would practice all hours of the day. Pain and fear couldn't stop me from practicing because I loved basketball so much.

So, you need to stop doing things you don't want to do and focus on the things you want to do. Follow your passion. Figure out what it is you were put on this earth to do. Attach a strong "why" to your actions. What is your destiny?

You don't have to do what everybody else is doing.

Follow your heart. Follow your instinct.

Too many people are chasing the wrong things. Chasing money. Chasing fame. Chasing validation. How about you chase your dreams and aspirations and forget about following the crowd?

but i have found procrastination does not really exist .. if you do not want to do something and the price of not doing it is far less than the price of making a last minute effort.. you probably will not do it ..

when i was a street performer in vegas until last year.. if there where people out on the strip and it was not to hot and sunny or to cold .. i would be out on the strip hustling for my money . and there was pain and discomfort involved..but need to put a roof over my head and food in my belly and buy my beers ..

now instead of stepping way outside your comfort zone .. the better path is to constantly expand your comfort zone ..also what i have found is as you expand in areas in a positive ways.. several other thing expand with it.. so you constantly have to test old beliefs you had about past limits .. say you used to be very shy..there where many other limits you built because you where shy.. then you pushed out the and became a lot less shy or even outgoing.. now all these other limit expanded as well ..but you might still be acting as if they are .. the same old way.

I will refer back to street performing .. which i did for a year and a half ..until it banned or restricted in las vegas to the point i could not make enough money .. but i went from being shy and introverted or in hiding .. to being out in crowds getting all the attention i could 8 10 12 hours a day or more .. and talking to pretty much everyone.. now the beer drinking helped and it went with the costume .. but i stopped drink before i stopped street performing ...and never went back to being shy .. now i am pretty comfortable chatting with nearly anyone without a costume on or a beer in my hand ..

the love and passion factor matter ..but you have to learn what makes you passionate about doing something .. then build it into what ever you do or find things that fit in the framework ..and try not to lock yourself into something ..because as you grow your passions shift and what you love doing today ..a month from now can seem like self torture ..with the combine let down of wondering why the passion left ..

so love what you do but try not to marry it and exchange lifetime vows .. unless of course you have been on the passion path since you where like 7 .. so you can actually pursue multiple passions or be fine shifting to different new more exciting passions on a regular basis ..

Now I will disagree with you on looking at biological needs as weaknesses .. or strengths ..ignoring biological needs leads to really nasty problems over time or even in the short term ..so getting 8 hours a night sleep if you need it .. is not a weakness .. nor is it a strength.. it is a requirement that if you ignore there are a huge number of issues that come out over time .. also making sure you get the best sleep possible. or because you have to eat and drink fluids through the day ..learn what are the best things for you to eat that both taste good and promote health ..

Step #1 is how it works Trey. Dead on advice. Fear seems to stop people but it is not there. Not real. So feel it, and proceed. Not always fun but it makes you more fearless which helps you live your dreams.

I think its the Marines that have the saying "Embrace The Suck." You're 100% correct on it being uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful to begin taking action. Someone struggling to get started just has to try with all their might and willpower to take the first steps toward their goal no matter how uncomfortable and painful. Often working toward a goal is like rolling a heavy stone down a hill. It's a SOB to get it started but once you get moving it just gets easier and easier.

I agree overall, but Do What You Love, nope, that usually leads to broke and bitter.

Doing what you love, is usually effort related or you do something or make something and get paid, and sure you can make a name for yourself and such, but when the economy is in a downhill trend, then profits tend to get slammed.

Nothing wrong with doing what you love if it can be leveraged, but most aren't.

I am doing what l like, and have been pretty bored with it over the last month of cramming, (Day trading books, etc) but it is showing good results and can lead to the passionate, no money one.

I agree 100% regarding the pain that comes with action. Even if you're doing something you want to do, if it's something new or different, the discomfort makes you yearn for what's familiar. And the familiarity is also the reason why most of us often fall back to what's familiar. We don't push through with action because we forget that the pain of change is temporary.

I think the most important thing for people to note is to get out of your comfort zone. taking the first step is always the hardest, the fear of moving into the unknown, the fear of failing and all, but once youre out there you'll realize that you are more than who you think you are and that you can actually achieve a great deal.

skip the emotional stir! get our of your comfort zone and life will only get much better!

Most important in beating procrastination is understanding that you have to start one step at a time. Nobody could stop procrastinate from one day to another, but we all can do baby step every single day. And then, when we forced ourselves to do something for 10,20,30 minutes, it´s not as hard as it was before. From that point, it´s a lot easier to beat procrastination and get job done.

You posted a good guide. Nowadays, many people forget this simple rules. I always try to think clearly, control my emotions and mind. Sometimes it's hard to control myself, because different situations - different emotions and behavior.

Self-sabotage is a big problem that lots of people deal with. It's very strange feeling to know exactly what to do, but your own beliefs and fears get in the way of your ability to take action.
Well, before you can fix this problem, you need to know why it happens:

1. More pain associated with taking action than not taking action - Most people procrastinate because the actions they need to take are not necessarily fun. The actions needed to achieve the results they want are sometimes painful.

Remember when you had a school project and you would wait until the last second to start working on it? The reason you waited till the last second was because working on that project was boring, difficult, tedious, and simply not fun.

So, one of the reasons we self-sabotage ourselves is because we are attempting to avoid pain by doing so.

2. Fear of the unknown - Most people are afraid of success. They are afraid of what success may bring. More responsibility. More expenses. More problems.

Most people are content with where they are in life. Life doesn't really suck, it's just not that great, so they are not motivated enough to get outside of their comfort zone. In order to be successful, you need to embrace change. You need to be okay with jumping into the unknown.

3. Identity clash - When you make the effort to achieve a new goal, your current identity will be challenged. The only way to achieve something you've never done before is to take actions you've never taken before and get out of your comfort zone.

In most cases, you will have to destroy your old identity and take up a new one which can be very painful. For example, if you believe yourself to be a person who just goes with the flow of life, you will have a hard time achieving goals that require strict scheduling and time management.
Sometimes we don't realize that we have an identity that is in direct conflict with the goal we are trying to achieve. It's tough to do, but most of the time you will have to make changes to your identity to get what you want in life.

==================================
How To Overcome Self-Sabotaging Behavior
==================================Step 1: Embrace Discomfort And Do What You Need To Do Anyway

The truth is that getting outside of your comfort zone is uncomfortable, but it is only temporary. When you take new actions on a consistent basis, eventually those actions will become a part of your comfort zone.

However, in the beginning, getting outside your comfort zone is going to suck. It feels uncomfortable, it feels awkward, and it just feels wrong. But, you need to embrace the discomfort and do it anyway.

There is a sense of power and freedom that will come to you when you accept discomfort and pain while taking action anyway.

You'll develop an inner confidence that nobody can take away from you. This confidence will propel you to move forward and take on bigger challenges with a smile on face, because you know you can handle anything life throws at you.

Step 2: Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths

We all have weaknesses that are holding us back from success, but sometimes you can transform those weaknesses into strengths by giving them different meanings.

For example, I love to sleep. If I don't get my 8 hours of sleep I pretty much go through the day like a zombie. So, instead of looking at this as a weakness I decided to look at it as a strength. I make sure to get my 8 hours of sleep, but when I wake-up I get straight to work and put all that energy into the actions that will get me to success the fastest.

I use all that energy to tackle the actions that I'm afraid to do. The actions that require the most energy. I get all the hard stuff out the way early in the day, so by the end of the day I can go to sleep and get my 8 hours of peaceful sleep knowing that I handled my business.

I chose to look at this weakness as a strength. Getting 8 hours of sleep everyday gives me less time to work on my business, but it doesn't really matter because instead of wasting my time doing a bunch of random stuff, I simply focus on the tasks that have the biggest impact in my business.

So, I don't need to work a ton of hours, because I just focus on doing a few things that have a huge impact in my business growth, and this allows me to get my 8 hours of sleep every night without feeling like I'm not spending enough time on my business.

Anything that you see as a weakness can be transformed into a strength, but you must look at it differently.

Step 3: Do What You Love To Do
Too many people are doing things that they hate. A lot of the stuff that people do, doesn't need to be done. You can eliminate it completely from your life or you can hire someone to do it for you or automate it.

I don't have as much problems with self-sabotage as I used to because I only do the things I want to do.

I remember when I was pursuing a professional basketball career, I would practice all hours of the day. Pain and fear couldn't stop me from practicing because I loved basketball so much.

So, you need to stop doing things you don't want to do and focus on the things you want to do. Follow your passion. Figure out what it is you were put on this earth to do. Attach a strong "why" to your actions. What is your destiny?

You don't have to do what everybody else is doing.

Follow your heart. Follow your instinct.

Too many people are chasing the wrong things. Chasing money. Chasing fame. Chasing validation. How about you chase your dreams and aspirations and forget about following the crowd?

When you do what you love, self-sabotage becomes a thing of the past.

I agree with you when you say "Fear of the unknown - Most people are afraid of success.". But one more reason is associated with being afraid of success and that reason is afraid of killing your dreams. Today, you have a dream but many of us are scared of loosing our dreams and converting it to reality.